4 Bulldogs Earn All-Ivy Honors

Mar 04, 2010

BACKMAN NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Sean Backman was named
2009-10 Ivy League Player of the Year and was among four Yale
men’s hockey skaters selected for the All-Ivy League team.
Backman, Broc Little and Tom Dignard all earned a spot on the
league’s first team, while Mark Arcobello was a second-team
selection.

Backman, an Ivy first-team pick all four years, is Yale's first Ivy
Player of the Year since Jeff Hamilton in 2000-01. He has 21 goals
and 35 points this year while helping the Bulldogs (19-7-3) win a
second straight league title and ECAC Hockey regular season
championship. Backman, a Hobey Baker Award candidate and finalist
for the Frozen Four Skills Competition, also earned first-team
All-ECAC honors this winter. The senior forward was the Ivy
League’s rookie of the year in 2006-07.

Little, a junior forward, earned a spot on his first Ancient Eight
all-star squad. He was also named first-team All-ECAC and currently
leads the country in goals (25), goals-per-game (.82) and
game-winners (7) and is currently on a four-game point streak.
Little is also a Hobey Baker candidate.

Dignard, who was second-team All-Ivy last year, is fourth in
Division I among defensemen with .92 points per game. The senior
from Reading, Pa., has five goals and 22 points this season.

Arcobello, who broke the record for career games played at Yale
with 126, has 11 goals and 28 points this season. The Milford,
Conn., native was a first-team selection last year.